First Look: Vizio tablet

First Look: Vizio tablet

Hey I'm Donald Bell.
Today we're taking a first look at an affordable 8 inch Android Tablet from Vizio.
The list here is $299.00 which gives you a solid little tablet, running a customized version of Android 2.3, 4 gigabytes of internal storage and a microSD card slot that can take an additional 32 Gigs of memory.
You also have a microHDMI output, microUSB, headphone jack and a volume locker on the side.
Now there are a few features that set the design apart.
First you can see how the backlit navigation buttons changed depending on how you hold it.
You also have 2 sets of built in speakers which also activate depending on how the tablet is held.
The final check here is that Vizio's has built in an IR Blaster and a remote control app, allowing you to use the tablet to control your TV, Stereo or most home AV equipment.
Now you won't always get all the functions of a proper remote control and it doesn't offer the Macros of a harmony remote but it works, as far as Android goes, you're not getting the latest, greatest
Honeycomb OS and some Android purist might sneer at the customized interface, that said you are getting full support for Google's mobile apps including Android Market.
Really the worst thing I can say about this tablet is that the screen quality isn't great.
There are 2 off viewing angles on here and when you look at it head-on, you can get this unintentional 3D effect, you can live with it but with great tablet to sell to like the 7 inch Galaxy Tab right around the same price or the Acer A100 with Honeycomb for $50.00 more, there's a lot of competition.
So, that's the Vizio Tablet, for CNET.
Com.
I'm Donald Bell.